Little Monster just refuses to carry weight

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Zargon_91

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After ideas....
He currently eats adlib hay and haylage (he has choice of 2 nets at all times)
1kg alfa a
2kg mollassed sugar beet
1kg spillers response slow release comp feed
200ml vegetable oil
keep me sound balancer (covers vits+mins, feet, coat, high quality protein, digestive aid etc)
electrolyte
split between 2 feeds (morning and evening)
Does around an hour of moderate schooling/jumping a day
probibly 2-3 days turnout (8am-1.30pm in a herd)
Is fully wormed and vaccinated.

I just cant seem to get him to carry any more weight, he is rugged as much as I can without him sweating- he is carrying more topline than it looks here im just worried he looks ribby and its not that cold yet!

I was thinking of swapping him onto either alfalfa chaff or swapping his sugarbeet for fibrebeet by british horse feeds as it has alfalfa pulp in it

Any other ideas? :(
 
he has had bluechip balancer- he was on dynamic and actually looked worse :/ is the conditioning mix the same as the balancers or do they also do proper feeds? :)
 
Spillers do a conditioning mix that is non heating.
How much of his nets does he actually eat at night?
Could you bulk his feed up slightly with a bit more chaff of mix and split it into 3/4 feeds throughout the day?
 
He eats a whole slice of hay, and a whole slice of haylage twice a day most days, he is honestly bottomless :( i was thinking of introducing a third feed, but im worried he wont cope then when it gets really cold and nasty.
 
Forgot to mention, which might cast a bit more light as to why im worried... he isnt a tb like he looks in the picture... he is a warmbloodx ID sport horse!
 
Micronised linseed - 2 mugs a day split into 2 feeds
High fibre cubes
Speedibeet
Your choice of vit/mins supplement.

Has he recently dropped weight or always struggled?
You should worm for tapeworm October time anyway.

If the weight remains an issue then have a vet check to rule out ulcers or any other underlying cause.

I also have a TB that struggles with weight. I completely overhauled his diet (as above) and he is looking the best he ever has.
 
Always Henesy said:
Micronised linseed - 2 mugs a day split into 2 feeds
High fibre cubes
Speedibeet
Your choice of vit/mins supplement.

Has he recently dropped weight or always struggled?
You should worm for tapeworm October time anyway.

If the weight remains an issue then have a vet check to rule out ulcers or any other underlying cause.

I also have a TB that struggles with weight. I completely overhauled his diet (as above) and he is looking the best he ever has.
Click to expand...

Also - if he needs extra oomph there is nothing like good old fashioned oats.
 
He is part of a worming program at college and our october wormer was for general parasites- i was wondering if to give the double dose specifically for the tapeworm?
He has always been a bit on the thin side, although he has put a lot of topline on in the past few months, he doesnt show any signs of discomfort which would suggest ulcers.
Will micronised linseed do the same as his oil or is it more digestible?
 
I would get a worm count done to see if anything a going on there. I would steer clear from any mixes, too much sugar/starch. My tb simply has alphabeet, alpha a original sunflower oil and a gp supplement aswell as adlib hay and is looking great. It doesn't sound like he gets much turnout, if he was mine I would be feeding soaked grass nuts and micronized linseed, so he's getting good old dr green.
 
How is he with more turnout?

And if your absolutely sure that your management is spot on I'd get him blood tested, and also reduce his work.

Does he have any suspicious lumps?
 
He is on spillers response which has carefully monitored levels of starch and gets alot of energy from legumes, but I agree with you about conditioning mixes etc. Would just grass be similar? He will get more turnout at christmas but unfortunately ground conditions are limiting turnout atm :(
 
Stupid phone ! Should have said cresty neck and fat pads behind saddle .Just ordered linseed and hope his ribs disappear.Tried blue chip and pink powder .Vet says he is fine but suggested Equi vit.Used that , no change .He is happy and great to ride so I suppose there cannot be too much wrong
 
Are you at warks col? If so ask Julie Ellis for feed advice, she's very good and will be able to see your horse in the flesh and advise from there.
 
I would get graze on grass nuts, or the simple systems ones where you can choose the quality of the grass, should really help his weight as obviously horses were designed to digest grass, should also help his energy levels. I would be inclined to lower his workload until he starts picking up, he's skinny for just going into winter. And as amymay says, if he doesn't pick up, I would get the vet out.
 
Nope, no lumps. Id like to turn him out for longer, and i did turn him away for a week or so last month and he actually lost weight, i think its from running around like a looney (does it every time)
What would you say check him for? full screens and worm counts?

Im pretty sure it isnt cushings or EMS- he is only 7, only been backed a year and my last horse had cushings so im pretty certain I wouldnt miss it.

Fingers crossed for yours picking up though!
 
Ella19 said:
Are you at warks col? If so ask Julie Ellis for feed advice, she's very good and will be able to see your horse in the flesh and advise from there.
Click to expand...

Julie teaches me nutrition :D
She's has prescribed this diet pretty much which is why im so baffled tbh, will be catching up with her after half term, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas in the mean time :)
 
Blood tests could year for a number of things, and your vet would advise you on that ultimately. But most immediatly is want to year for tape worm, anemia, liver function.
 
There's so much starch in the diet :eek:.

I'd give him a gut detox for a month to rule out ulcers and then bang fibre into him.

No bucket feeds over 10% starch and sugar combined and stay away from cereals.

Fast Fibre, Speedibeet, Coolstance copra, soya hulls - all safe sources of calories without messing up the gut pH.
 
Personally, I would get a blood test done. No point feeding loads if there is something physically wrong. :)

If everything is fine, I would feed alpha oil, linseed and fibre nuts, and try to keep it simple.
 
Zargon_91 said:
He eats a whole slice of hay, and a whole slice of haylage twice a day most days, he is honestly bottomless :( i was thinking of introducing a third feed, but im worried he wont cope then when it gets really cold and nasty.
Click to expand...

Are you talking sall bales or big bales? Because if it's small bales then that is only half of what he needs! There would be your answer. Do you weight his hay and haylage? If so, how much does it weigh?

How old is he? Could he have Cushings?

Lastly, he has the most odd conformation up front that I have ever seen. His front legs seem to be around 6 inches in front of where they should be. Maybe it's how he is standing, but if not, this will be putting a huge amount of stress and strain on him and could contribute to him being a poor doer.

Sorry, just seen that he is only 7, so scrub the Cushings suggestion.
 
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